


Ultimate Wholesome Sonic Fanfiction!

by LuluCalliope



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Challenge Response, Chao Garden, Coronavirus got me writing, Cream is a precious child, Fluff, Gen, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, I'm Not Ashamed, Mentions of Other Sonic Characters, No Romance, One Shot, Shadow is secretly a softie, Wholesome, Written as a joke but I really got into this, Written on a Dare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23235379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuluCalliope/pseuds/LuluCalliope
Summary: Shadow isn't having the best day, and he wasn't expecting any of the events. And he wasn't planning on spending time with one of the youngest members of Sonic's group of "friends".Written as a challenge/dare/joke for a discord friend, this story is completely and totally wholesome! Just a brooding loner spending time with a bubbly little girl! (Just like me in my server with my friends, haha!)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Ultimate Wholesome Sonic Fanfiction!

Ultimate Wholesome Sonic Story

To the naked eye, the Ultimate Lifeform cannot be seen when he travels at top speed, and he prefers to move around this way because of the privacy and lack of stares from idiotic pedestrians. He’s saved them in the past from threats like Dr. Eggman and Black Doom, but he holds no real emotional attachment to any of them and avoids the public eye whenever possible. Another hedgehog he knows prefers to roll around at the speed of sound wherever he goes, and Shadow can’t fathom how his ally can be so comfortable around civilians.

Shadow smirks. “Heh. Ally.” He’s allowed himself to become more comfortable around the blue one and his companions; he’d even sampled cake at Sonic’s birthday party. But he still hesitates to refer to any of themーthe gullible knucklehead, the two-tailed genius, the conscious robot, the coy sleuth, and so onーas his “friends”. In fact, he hasn’t used that word in over fifty years. He had been somebody’s best friend, once upon a time, butー

He closes his eyes. _No_ , he admonishes himself. He needs to leave the past behind and keep his mind on the present and the future. He says this every day. _“I believe in my future, farewell to the shadow, it was my place to live. I have breathed in the disgusting air of darkness but I never lose out to the pressure.”_ His mantra keeps him strong and confident, but the memory of his late best friend teases his mind and tempts him to lose his focus.

He continues his sprint through Station Square, his eyes and ears oblivious to anything except for the things that could be seen as a threat. He skids to a halt behind an office building and exhales. It rained last night, and he just now realizes that his precious Air Shoes are soaked. He wiggles his toes and hears them squish against the excess water. He sighs again, “Great.” His shoes never work at their best when they get wet. That’s why he avoids the water: not because he has an intense fear of it, like that blue hedgehog does, but because it affects the performance of his shoes. Shadow had thought that the rain from yesterday was light, so he’s dismayed to see how wrong he was. And regular water from a lake or a river is one thing, but this is rain water from the streets of the city. Shadow’s nose wrinkles with disgust. He doesn’t want to know what else might be mixed with the water. The water on _his_ shoes.

Overcome with irritation, he folds his arms and looks down at the shoes. They have been a part of him for as long as he can remember. (Literally a part of him: he never takes them off unless he absolutely has to.) He can still remember the day he got them. That was the day of his creation.

Dr. Gerald Robotnik, the grandfather of two important figures in Shadow’s life, had performed so many examinations on him. “Look here.” “How does this feel?” “Read this.” “Can you tell me which of these pictures has a person crying?” “Walk in a straight line, heel to toe.” “Which of these pictures has a numerical pattern?” “Catch the ball and toss it back to me.” “Can you rub your stomach and pat your head at the same time?” The last test had been a joke, but afterwards, the doctor had chuckled with approval and delight and knelt down so that he could look Shadow in the eyes. “You’ve done very well, Shadow the Hedgehog. I have a present for you in the other room: the Air Shoes! They’re rocket-propelled and will give you the ability to run, glide, and hover at remarkable speeds. They’re my own invention, but Maria helped with the design. You’ll meet her soon, so consider these shoes a symbol of my confidence in you!”

That was about half a century ago. Shadow looks at his feet and notices that the strips of red metal have spots on them, the paint scratched from the aftermath of his many battles. He hates the idea of having the shoes replaced, but maybe someone can repair them. A two-tailed fox comes to mind and Shadow grunts. _I suppose he could help._ But he isn’t the type to ask for favors or help, so he trudges forward without a destination in mind. He continues to think. _Or maybe that bat has stolen a pair. I wouldn’t put it past her, given her resourcefulness._ He becomes so deep in thought that he’s caught off guard by an obstacle in his path and tumbles over it with a rare cry of alarm. He gets to his feet and composes himself and, once satisfied that no one has witnessed his moment of clumsiness, turns to face the cause, ready for a fight, until he sees that it’s an egg.

But not just any egg. It’s large, almost half the size of his body, and decorated with colorful speckles. He’s seen pictures of them before and heard Sonic and his “friends” talk about them, so he recognizes what it is: a Chao Egg. To Shadow, Chao are annoying pests that don’t communicate in a universal language or contribute to society. They require lots of attention, and for some reason, people tend to find them “adorable”. He stands in front of the egg for a few minutes with his arms crossed. If someone were to spot him now, they might think that he was challenging or daring the egg to hatch. He soon groans, rolls his eyes, and scoops the egg up in his arms. Despite the large size, the egg is light and easy to hold. Although a part of him is tempted to leave the egg alone, the responsible side of him knows that he needs to get it to someone who knows about Chao. And he already has a person in mind.

* * *

It takes him hours to find her residence. At first, he assumed that she lived with her mother, but the guardian in question informed Shadow that she no longer lives with her, but rather in an apartment with a certain hyperactive fangirl. He stands outside the uninteresting building and locates the apartment’s communication system. When he uses it to call the correct unit, a familiar voice greets him within seconds. “Hello, Sonic, is that you?!”

Shadow flinches at her squeal and massages his temples. “No, it’s me. It’s Shadow.”

“Shadow?! You never visit me! Is something wrong?! Did Sonic send you here? Is he in trouble? What’s going on?!”

“Everything is fine, calm down,” he reassures her in monotone. “I just need to speak to Cream. Is she here?”

For a moment, he thinks that she’s hung up on him, but then the door of the building’s main entrance, and there she is: a silly little girl with a one-track mind that leads only to romance. “Why do you want to talk to Cream?” She asks with a suspicious glint in her eyes. He holds out his arms to reveal the egg. “O-o-o-o-oh,” she exclaims as her eyes go wide. “Yeah, she’ll know what to do! Come on!” As she leads him to the elevator, she chatters about nothing in particular. (“I DO understand the feelings of a Persian cat, but the sphinx looked SO cute, I had to shave it!”) The customary awkward elevator silence falls over them as they move to the upper floors. _One, two, three, four_ , Shadow counts in his head. When the doors open, she prances down the hall to her suite and bounds inside. She leaves the door open for him, and he enters after her. He doesn’t need an invitation from anyone. He goes wherever he wants.

But he wishes that he hadn’t come here. Every surface in this living space is some shade of pink, and they clash against each other and create a painful anarchy for his eyes. Only one part is free of pink: the rug in the shape of Sonic’s head, which happens to be made in his signature color of royal blue. But the symbol of the blue blur only provides Shadow with a few seconds of comfort, because he walks through what feels like a valley of pink until he and Amy are outside a room with a closed door. The pink girl pounds on it with her fist and shouts, “Hey Cream! You’ve got a visitor!” She turns to Shadow and, with a lukewarm smile, announces, “I’m off!”

“The door is unlocked; please come in!” A voice calls from behind the closed door. Shadow grunts and jerks the door open, a little rougher than he intends. But the room’s occupantーa wide-eyed rabbit girlーdoesn’t seem to mind. She spins in the chair by her desk, opposite the door, so she can face her visitor. “Oh, hello, Mister Shadow!” She greets him with what appears to be a genuine smile. “It’s so lovely to see you!” She stands up, clasps her hands in her lap, and bows to him. Shadow resists the urge to chuckle. No one has ever bowed to him before, and now this little girl has. _What goes through her head?_

“I wondered if you might know what to do with this,” he begins as he sets the egg on the carpet in front of her. Cream’s whole face lights up.

“Mister Shadow, where did you find that egg? It’s beautiful!”

“It’s a long story,” he says, his tone a little more curt than he intends it to be. “But I knew that you’d know where to take it.” He expects her to accept the responsibility with glee and then let him go on his way, but instead, she raises a gloved hand to her mouth with a look of astonishment.

“Mister Shadow...have you ever been to the Chao Garden?”

“No,” he says, uncomfortable from the look she gives him. “Don’t you have one as a pet? Where is it?”

“His name is Cheese, and he’s not a pet, Mister Shadow!” She corrects in a tone that almost resembles a scolding one. “He’s my best friend! But he’s with his brother, Chocola, today! Why don’t you come with me to the Chao Garden?”

“Why?” He snorts. “You can handle it, can’t you?”

“Oh, of course!” She looks a little offended, but seems to brush off his statement within a second. “But in the future, if you ever find any eggs, you’ll be able to drop them off yourself! It’ll save you a trip!” He hates to admit it, but she has a point. Shadow still hesitates, and she adds a sweet word to her statement: “Please?”

He sighs with defeat.

* * *

“We’re here!” Cream announces with a small hop in place. “Isn’t it incredible, Mister Shadow?”

The hedgehog has to admit that he’s never seen a room quite like this. He stands in the center of the teleporter and examines his surroundings. The ceiling above attempts to be celestial, with clouds in the center and stars that spread out to the edges of the room. The walls look like glass or a similar transparent material, and through them, he can see stars that shine against a violet sky. But before he leaves the middle of the room, a foreign noise echoes around him. _Electronic music_. “Oh, this is such a great song!” His companion giggles.

Shadow scoffs in disgust and resists the urge to cover his ears. He doesn’t consider himself a music enthusiast, but the music he does listen to falls under one category: classical. He admires the beauty of each instrument and, even though he prefers songs without vocals, he appreciates creative lyrics when they’re delivered properly. He can make out a person over the techno pound, but the words are nonsensical. _Layin’ the wax and spinnin’ the sounds?_ He voices his complaints to Cream. “It’s not even music. They aren’t playing with actual instruments. I can’t even tell what the lyrics are.”

“That’s not the point, Mister Shadow!” The little girl chirps. Shadow stares at her as she begins to move faster, and he can’t help but wonder how such a young thing like her can possess so much energy, and be so quiet and calm. Each motion is joyous and enthusiastic, but yet solemn and refined. Does she hold back out of instinct? Shadow dismisses this question when she speaks again. “It’s all about the rhythm! Doesn’t it make you want to dance?” He doesn’t give her an answer, but she smiles, undaunted by his silence. Cream begins to focus only on the “music”, and Shadow watches her until he realizes that his foot is tapping along with the music. He tries to ignore it until he realizes that the girl already noticed. She flashes him a wide, adorable smile, and he contemplates his options before he gives up and follows the beat in his own way. He knows that she can keep a secret, and that what happens here and now remains between the two of them, and only them. So he lets himself dance and lies to himself when he says that he’s only doing it because she asked, not because he secretly likes the music. After a while, the song fades out, and Shadow sees an opportunity.

“What do we do with the egg?” He asks as the girl stops her dance. Cream blushes, perhaps out of embarrassment, but she returns to normal and approaches the egg again. She scoops it up in her arms and looks to the hedgehog with a twinkle of excitement in her eyes.

“Follow me, Mister Shadow! Now we get to put the egg in the Chao Garden!” She takes him by the hand and pulls him towards one of the two archways. He doesn’t resist or pull his hand away from hers. The sooner they get this done, the better. But he becomes stunned when he sees what lies beyond this archway.

A lush field stretches as far as his eyes can see. To his right, he sees a pond of a modest size, complete with an active waterfall. To his left, two or three trees stand strong and tall, with some unknown orange fruit clinging to the branches. For a minute, Shadow thinks he can hear music, a soft simplistic lullaby composed to soothe everyone who listens, but he blinks, and the music is gone. New sounds reach his ears: the coos and babbles of a language he can’t quite understand. He spots the source: tiny blue creatures that crawl along the grass without a destination or goal in mind. These are the Chao. His lip curls in disgust, but Cream seems pleased to see the little things. “Hello, how are you?” She coos at them as she sets herself on the ground. The inhabitants of the garden flock to her, and Shadow takes this time to observe them. Most of them are, as he already knew and noted, blue. But there are a few in different colors: pink, lime green, sky blue, topaz, onyx, gold, and so on. He notices that there are already two eggs in this garden, identical to the one he found, in an isolated section where there’s somehow a perfect balance between sunlight and shade. He ignores the eggs and looks back at Cream. The Chao surround her, then begin to express their adoration for her in different ways. Some of them procure pieces of chalk and scribble on the ground. Some are more talented than their peers, and Shadow can tell that the images they make are crude imitations of Cream. He doesn’t mind them when they entertain themselves, but some of the Chao decide to entertain him and Cream. One opens its mouth and belts out a song with an off-key delivery. The peers around it join in with various instruments, much to Shadow’s chagrin. He needs to tune it out.

“So, what do Chao even do?” He asks with a raised voice. 

“Oh, all sorts of things! You can race them, enter them in karate competitions, send them to school, play with them…” Cream begins to babble about what the Chao are capable of, so Shadow rephrases his question. Much to his relief, the music stops, but Cream applauds for them. 

“I mean, do they have any powers? Can they actually defend themselves in a fight or an attack from Dr. Eggman?”

“Well, not all of them,” she responds with total sincerity. “But most of them can learn! How they use their power is up to them, though. Chao are peaceful, and their decision to help good or evil all comes down to how they’re raised.”

“They can’t figure these things out on their own?” Shadow is bemused. “Can’t they do anything on their own?” He glares at one of the “mature” Chao as it takes two steps towards a fruit tree, then trips over nothing. He scoffs. “They seem pretty useless. They have to rely on others for survival and safety. If they can’t do anything for themselves, then why does anyone bother helping them?”

Deep in thought, the rabbit bows her head. Shadow notices that her ears brush against the grass, and when she sinks to the ground and hugs her knees to her chest, a few Chao approach her from different directions. At first, he doesn’t understand why, but when he sees her shoulders shake, he realizes that he’s made her cry and that the Chao have come to comfort her. He curses when no one can hear him, and then walks closer to Cream. He stares at the pool to the side and waits for her to speak first. He knows that she’s aware of his presence, and he wants her to break the silence because he’s not the best when it comes to these situations. But he speaks the phrase that he has never spoken before, not even to Maria:

“I’m sorry.”

He sucks in a sharp breath and feels his whole body stiffen. He has always assumed that saying those words would somehow make him weaker. A silly thought, he knows, but he couldn’t help it. But Shadow feels like a knot in his chest has come loose, and he isn’t sure why. But he looks to Cream, and she stands up to her full height.

“They aren’t the strongest or the fastest when it comes to you or Mister Sonic, but they are important to our world.” She picks up one of the younger Chao and cradles it in her arms. “Mr. Knuckles told me that, long ago, the guardian Chaos watched over the Chao and the Chaos Emeralds. He told me that, if Chaos tried to protect the Chao...that they must be important, like the Emeralds. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have cared about them.” She kneels and scratches a nearby Chao under its chin. “I think that Mr. Knuckles is right. We may not know their full potential, but one day, we’ll be able to see what the Chao are capable of.”

Shadow refuses to accept that the echidna in question is capable of such profound thoughts, but he sees the logic in what Cream says. When she asks him to stay in the garden for just a little while longer, he does, and the Chao don’t seem to be as annoying as they were before…

* * *

Shadow spends the night on the outskirts of town, and when he opens his eyes at dawn, he sees a box on the ground next to him. He tears past the colorful paper and discards the frilly ribbons, and when he lifts the lid off, he actually gasps with surprise.

To this day, he doesn’t know how she managed to find him at night or how she got her hands on a pair of shoes identical to his old ones on such short notice. But he never questions her. But Cream knows that he’s grateful and that he’s happy whenever she sees him, because he always wears her gift.

And she knows that she appreciates all of the Chao when he greets her, because he always acknowledges her darling Cheese with the smallest of smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> So, in case you couldn't tell, some lines of dialogue or inner thoughts were inspired by the actual lyrics of songs from Sonic games! I really like the music in the franchise, I think that the lyrics are actually pretty profound and that the delivery is excellent.
> 
> ...please leave kudos and feedback talk to me please this coronavirus isolation is not fun help
> 
> I love you guys bye


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